Saturday, September 30, 2006

The subject of weight loss invariably comes down to a discussion of calories. It's a matter of how many calories you are taking in with the foods you consume versus the number of calories you are burning off with exercise (although the "calories in, calories out" message is not what people think). Most people have no idea how many calories they need to be consuming to maintain or even lose weight. That's why it is helpful to have a Calories Per Day Calculator to customize your caloric needs.

This calculator appears on Nicki Anderson's ShapeFit web site and is a handy-dandy little tool for you to use if you are trying to lose weight. Of course, it is only a tool and not an exact science, but it should give you a good guide to go by if you are counting calories. Nicki recommends people eat 500 calories LESS than what the calculator states they need to consume to maintain.

For example, here is what I put in for my statistics:

MALE6'3"219 pounds34 years oldVery Active activity level

For me to maintain my current weight, I should consume 3657 calories.

So, using Nicki's formula for weight loss, I need to drop that down to 3157 calories to begin burning excess body fat. That may sound like a lot, but with my workout routine and calorie needs, it's not unheard of. If you've seen any of my recent menus, then you know I am eating close to 3,000 calories per day.

She warns people NOT to go below 1200 calories daily (because low-calorie diets can be unhealthy) unless instructed to do so by a doctor or on a supervised weight loss plan.

To be honest, I DON'T count calories and haven't since I started livin' la vida low-carb. That's not to say calories aren't important, but I don't have to bother with it since low-carb foods tend to regulate calories naturally. I realize SOME people HAVE to watch their calories and that's fine, too. But I just make better food choices and let the calories work themselves out. It's worked so far!

Hopefully this tool provided by Nicki will help you know how many calories you should be eating versus some arbitrary number out of thin air. Use this tool often to help you lose weight and get fit!

calculations smalculations! just eat just the amount of low carb foods you need to control your hunger and NO MORE! who cares how many actual calories that is...

I care.

I've been in metabolic starvation mode before with eating low-carb (ketosis, in fact) and not hungry at all and it created a plateau that took a few months to get out of. Eating below basal may create a short term benefit, but it's definitely not worth it in the long-term. And for most people, like me, ketosis is a very powerful appetite suppressant and you can easily eat way below basal and not even know it.